Development of an EMS curriculum.

AbstractEmergency medical services (EMS) became an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) approved subspecialty of emergency medicine in September 2010. Achieving specialty or subspecialty recognition in an area of medical practice requires a unique body of knowledge, a scientific basis for the practice, a significant number of physicians who dedicate a portion of their practice to the area, and a sufficient number of fellowship programs. To prepare EMS fellows for successful completion of fellowship training, a lifetime of subspecialty practice, and certification examination, a formalized structured fellowship curriculum is necessary. A functional curriculum is one that takes the entire body of knowledge necessary to appropriately practice in the identified area and codifies it into a training blueprint to ensure that all of the items are covered over the prescribed training period. A curriculum can be as detailed as desired but typically all major headings and subheadings of the core content are i...